This Is Not Our Farewell
by HushedxAngel
Summary: At the height of her angelic career, Melanie Beeby is sent on a mission to rescue Jade from the depths of Darkness. Little did she know, being her guardian angel would prove to be the most emotional experience.
1. Chapter 1

_Boom. Boom. Boom._

My heartbeat thumped in a steady rhythm. I could feel it pulsating, that heavy thud reminding me how alert of my body I was.

"Steady," a voice that seemed so far away only vaguely rang into my ears. I was concentrating too hard to recognise anything else they were saying.

_In. Out. In. Out_.

I breathed in time with my heart. Deeply, filling my lungs with as much oxygen as possible. I began to feel more alive, the tiny cells of my body tingling as the angelic energy from my core energised me.

"NOW!" I yelled loudly, and immediately launched into my attack.

The silver light from the sharp-edged sword shined as it glided effortlessly through the air, a loud clanging noise being emitted as it crashed against its opponent.

Reuben fought against me for all he was worth, using intricate martial arts moves to soar through the air above me.

I made eye contact with him, staring deeply, as if I could see not just into his brain, but into his soul. This way, I would become One with my enemies moves. I could anticipate. We would dance.

I could feel my skin grow hot from the power flowing through my veins. In under a nanosecond, I had connected to my Inner Angel, her fighting through me.

As I let my body be controlled by the warrior inside of me, I felt energy shoot through my arms and down the hilt of the sword, the release concluding in an explosion of light.

"Holy shit," Reuben exclaimed. His eyes became as wide as saucers as the light turned into a hot violet flame. Both of us paused and stared at it.

"How did I..?" I asked, a puzzled look on my face. I turned towards our Sensei, who was approaching me from behind. He held his hand up and I stopped talking.

"Don't lose your control over the flame, Melanie-San," he began, touching me gently on the shoulder. I looked down at the sword, which was still burning brightly. "You have opened your Ajna and relinquished yourself to the power you hold. This is the most successful technique to overpowering your opponent."

"I... didn't know I could do this," I blinked, smiling broadly. "Is the flame dangerous?"

"Only to the Opposition, and any being of darkness." As if to demonstrate, Sensei Yoshirou put his hand into the flame, and just as he said, it didn't hurt him. "Flames forged of angelic Light are from your Inner Being. This could burn, even melt, the skin of your Dark opponent."

Reuben and I were absolutely fascinated by this; it was new to both of us. Despite our newfound knowledge of spiritual martial arts, the lesson was about to end.

We bowed to each other, a deep and long one to our Sensei as he walked away to tend to the other students.

"That was a good practice, wasn't it?" I asked him. I took the scrunchie out of my hair and fluffed it out, combing my fingers to get rid of the wild knots. The one downfall to heavy martial arts was even in a ponytail, I still managed to screw my hair up!

Reuben nodded happily, his eyes shining. "You're really getting the hang of this. I think someone could go for her black belt soon," he teased, leaning closer to me and planting a quick kiss on my cheek. "Well done, Mel."

I blushed deeply, shivers running up my spine at the touch of his lips. "Thanks, Reubs. Anyway, I'll go get changed. Wanna go to the Guru afterwards?"

"Sure thing." With that, he walked away to talk to some of his martial arts kin.

I stared after him, a silly little smile upon my face. It felt like it was just yesterday when we officially became a couple, at the tender age of thirteen. Now we were both seventeen, and being in a relationship for four years has made us closer than ever.

_Only a true couple could nearly kill themselves practising martial arts with weapons!_ I thought in my head, laughing inwardly. We didn't want to harm each other, it was only lessons to help us fight the bad guys.

In the changing rooms, I took my outfit out of my bag and changed into it quickly. A tight tank top with wings on the back, short mid-thigh denim skirt, leather bikers jacket, and high heel sandals.

Nodding happily at my reflection in the mirror, I put everything else back into my bag and walked out. There was Reuben, as always, waiting for me anxiously.

He was such a sweetie that way. After class we always left together, sometimes (like that day) grabbing a bite to eat on way back to the Academy. Lola and Brice had a different schedule to ours, so unfortunately it was only a few times for us to be a group.

Smiling at each other, we both linked hands and exited the dojo, breathing in the wonderful fresh air that met us.

Heaven is such an amazing place, way better than Earth could ever be. In my era of twenty-first century London, it was chock full of fumes from cars and factories. Heaven, despite having a gorgeous city, was as pristine as the archangels could make it. One thing that has always puzzled me, though, was what was everything run on? Skyscrapers, buildings, and cars - and yet the air was so clean you could smell the lilacs right underneath your nose.

As we reached the Guru, we quickly lined up in front of the counter, waving as Star zoomed past us at rocket speed. It took her a few months after arriving in Heaven to find her legs, but eventually she was right at home studying at the Academy, a job as a waitress as her side activity.

"Hello there," Mo smiled at us warmly as we reached the counter. "Usual after-sports snack of blueberry muffins and chocolate milkshakes for two?"

"You know us too well," I winked, giggling as Reuben paid with his angel ID. Like a kind of point system, the more missions you did for the Agency, the more 'cash' you got on your card.

Pulling out my chair at the outside table, I sat across from Reubs. "So to get back on subject," I began, continuing on the conversation we had during our trip, "I wanted to do this really spectacular report, but I'm totally stuck for ideas. I know we are currently studying the Eureka Stockade in Australia, but aren't random facts just totally boring?"

"Isn't he planning another class trip soon?" Reuben asked. "That could help with your report. But just an idea, instead of 'random facts', maybe delving into the subject deeper, something concerning angels and demons."

"Ugh, I don't know," I rolled my eyes. Even being at the Academy, I still didn't like to do school work - which as you may have gathered, can have moments where it is just like Earth.

Mo was just about to bring our orders, when all of a sudden, I felt my inner self leave my body, and fly upwards towards the sky. _Déjà vu_ _much!_ I thought excitedly, my minds eye whooshing through the cosmos, rocketing towards Earth.

But there was something different about this. Usually during the Call, I would feel extremely free, like a kite flying through the wind without a controller. And yet this time, all I felt was darkness enclose me.

"Help me," a distant feminine voice called out. "Help me, Melanie!"

I couldn't recognise who it was, it sounded like a teenager I never heard before, but in my heart I felt a sense of familiarity. And yes, that same choking feeling of demonic vibes.

I was suddenly pushed back into my body again with a huge bang, and I looked around wildly. I was back, and thank the Universe, in one piece!

"You best go down to the Agency, Mel." Reuben had a firm, and yet disappointed sound in his voice. I understood how he was feeling, I would miss him so much on my new mission. But he was right, there was a person on Earth who needed my guardian angel help, and I had to be there for them.

Getting up from the table, I rushed over to Reuben and laid a passionate kiss on his lips. The sudden action nearly threw him off balance, but he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me tightly.

We released from our embrace, smiling. I giggled as he had to wipe my lipstick off himself. "Bye!" I said, and quickly hopped it towards the Agency.

* * *

><p>When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was Michael in the marble lobby, just a few metres away from the revolving doors. It was kind of hard to miss this, as his pure archangel powers practically lit up the whole floor. I was nearly blown away from the energy that hit me when I walked in. <em>Uh oh<em> I thought. If Michael was here, it obviously meant it was an emergency.

Turns out I was right. Wordlessly, he nodded towards the lifts, and as I flashed my ID to the receptionists, we hurried into one.

By the time we reached the briefing room, I was really starting to fidget. Apart from a quick smile and a 'you'll be fine, Melanie', Michael hadn't said anything else. I was really starting to panic.

Sam was pacing back and forth, staring at a big projector screen propped up on the wall. Turning towards us, he gave us a quick, reassuring smile. "Welcome, Melanie," he began. "I think it is best you sit down and we launch straight into the brief."

Nodding professionally (Helix had once again taken over and become all business-like), I primly sat down and faced the archangel and top agent in front of me.

"Melanie," Michael took in a breath as he stared right into my eyes. I shivered. It always felt like he could look right into my soul. "There has been a worrying occurrence in the twenty first century. Specifically, London."

"Oh, so that's why it felt so familiar!" I let out a little nervous giggle. "I was wondering why the vibes I got I recognised."

Sam and Michael shared a look. "It's not the place that we are concerned about," he commented. "It's the person."

"What?" I asked quizzically, a pang in my chest. What the fuck was going on?

Michael walked closer to me, laying a friendly hand on my shoulder, in that way adults do when they don't know how someone will take news. "Your human is your sister, Jade Beeby."

I think I felt my heart skip a beat. I felt numb. I didn't know what to think. My Jade. My sweet, innocent, pixie faced sister Jade. "What?" I repeated. My mind was trying to process, and say, as many questions as it could. "Why her?"

"Here is where it gets tricky," Sam sighed. "When she was young, she understood you were an angel in Heaven. Children of a young age are able to tap into these kind of thoughts and feelings, so it helps ease the shock of death. But as she grew older, she started disbelieving herself, calling it all fantasy and fabrication."

"But that's not true!" I exclaimed forcefully. "The only ones who could make her think like that are the-" I stopped in absolute horror. This was not happening. "The PODs."

Michael nodded silently, his eyes grave with sorrow. "Grief of growing into a teenager without her big sister opened her up to the Opposition. Eventually this connection she had plugged herself into grew. The situation can be resolved," he added hopefully, "but we need you to be on this one, to help her along."

"Of course," I said immediately without even having to think. "You can count on that."

"Good," Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "We should get you out into the force as soon as possible."

I bit my lip as we exited the briefing room, and into the time portal area. This would be one of the most hardest - and emotional - mission I have ever had to do.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **because one of my friends is going to read this, and has not yet read Keeping it Real, I took out the name of Mel's killer. So yes, I know who it is, but I don't want to spoil it for her! XD hehe anyway, enjoy. 

* * *

><p>The portal room, as usual, was buzzing with intense activity as Michael and I made our way through the crowds.<p>

Being in the Agency, whenever an angel was on official business, they had to leave Heaven from this place. Some would stay dematerialised and in our dimensions, others would be on Earth masquerading as humans.

So in between noticing all these angelic auras, you end up seeing a mass of historical clothing too. It really is an extraordinary experience.

I waited for Al, one of my favourite time technicians, to finish fixing my portal. After a few particular missions I've been on, we were far more vigilant and careful, if I must say so.

Michael cleared his throat, removing my mind from my thoughts. "Just be prepared, Mel," he said in a simplistic way. "What you may be confronted with might really shock you."

"Why? What has Jade done?" I panicked. My horrified look on my face made Michael put up his hands in a silencing manner.

"It's not what Jade has done, or will do, that is the most intense parts. We will be delivering you to Earth in 2001, specifically a day in July you may remember well."

I stared at him. It took a few blinks for me to really comprehend what he was implying. "Are you talking about the date of my _death_?"

"Portal's ready, Michael." Al's voice was the only thing that stopped me from firing off a massive amount of questions.

Dumbly, I shuffled into the glass portal, sending off silent prayers to the Universe. In a split-second decision, I decided to grab my iPod out of my bag and play an upbeat pop song, something that would help calm my nerves.

Shoving the earphones in my ears, I waited for Michael's bright face to give the a-okay.

With that uplifting, you'll-be-alright smile of his, and his thumbs up (which I nervously returned), I was suddenly catapulted into the threshold between space and time.

As DNA-like strands of pictures from history twirled and fizzes around the portal, I tuned out to the music to take my mind off the quite scary ordeal.

It certainly wasn't the worst travelling experience I had been on, a journey through a human-made time travel device, and definitely the cosmic bolt-holes, were the worst. But still, nobody liked the travel from Heaven to Earth, did they?

As my destination grew closer, I felt this overwhelming feeling take control of me. I couldn't tell what it was - sadness? Grief? Unhappiness? Whatever it was, I knew it was coming from Jade. And here I was, her dead sister about to return to her, but she had no idea.

In a flash of white light, I left the vortex of the cosmos, and my foot touched the ground of Earth.

* * *

><p>Coming back home, literally, was an extremely emotional moment for me. I had already done this before, as a mission when I was thirteen involved looking after my best mates. But this... My sister was a youngster, and according to the time on my angelic watch, she had no idea her sister was going to die soon.<p>

As I did my usual acclimatising routine, I noticed where I was. A few blocks away from the sight of my death.

How odd.

Why wasn't I with Jade at home? Because it was school holidays, she had time off from her preschool.

Shrugging, I turned my iPod off and put it and the earphones back in my bag. There was a little zing that told me to walk down the street, so following my angel instinct, I did. Ignoring the alarm bells in my head telling me I was heading to the place I got hit, I kept on putting one foot in front of the other.

Out of nervousness, I started humming Reuben's little theme song for us Cosmic Musketeers. It was the only help in certain situations.

I have to admit, the idea that was forming in my head wasn't pleasing at all. For some reason, the Universe said I would be_ here_ instead of with my sister. Maybe it was some little time travelling glitch? Or was there a reason?

My eyes looked straight ahead as my heart rate suddenly kicked up a few thousand beats. There it was.

The zebra crossing.

The place I died.

For a split second, I had the thought in my mind to turn tail and run. This wasn't nice at all, so yes, I was v. stressed out! But Helix, my Inner Angel, gave me some soothing advice that helped calm me down.

As I glanced down the other end of the street, I saw something that pretty much made me feel like I would die for the second time over.

ME!

Now, I'm not gong to lie, this was the most shocking moment of any mission I've had to far. You're probably thinking, "huh? You've dealt with worse!" but look at this from my point of view. I was having an, er, out of body experience and seeing myself walk down the freaking street!

"Way to go on this one, guys," I muttered in an angry thought towards the Agency. What little crackpot idea of theirs was this?

I was a clueless thirteen year old. I actually looked totally happy, in that blissed-out way we get. And yet I thought, was this me just being a dreamy teenager, or was I subconsciously preparing for what was just around the corner?

Actually, that thought was legit. My radar flared up. The car was at least a minute away!

"Stop! Don't do it!" I yelled out on some weird impulse, my human reflex that says my screaming could do something to alert.

But it didn't. With my earphones in my ears, humming (god, I sounded tone deaf!) a silly little Jewel song, I stepped onto the zebra crossing.

I sprinted from my position, trying as fast as I could to reach myself. Stretching out my hand, I touched my own shoulder, trying somehow to do... Well, I didn't know what exactly. But nobody wants to have a horrible death, do they?

When the human-me shivered as my angel hand went straight through the skin, I shrunk back with horror and realisation. Right before I died, I thought I felt something, as if someone was touching me.

It was me.

It was ALL ME.

An engine in the distance roared to life, coming closer to where we, er - I was.

I whipped my head around quickly and squinted into the sun. There was the Ford Fiesta. And there was the teenage guy who had taken my life, behind the wheel, looking pale and scared at his success of the car-jacking joyride.

I knew what was coming. From a different viewpoint, I was seeing my own death. So feeling defeated, I knew there was nothing I could do, so I walked backwards and stood on the pathway, waiting for the impact.

Time just seemed to run slower as the stolen car approached the human me. In a nanosecond, I saw the dazed Mel Beeby snap out of her little daydream, and turn her head to see the car.

My expression now mimicked the one I was watching. Fear. The knowledge that this was it, my teenage life would be snuffed out for good.

Then it happened. Bang.

I died in a quite graceful way. A quick roll up the windshield from the kinetic energy, and as the car screeched loudly to a halt, gravity took over, and I fell back down onto the ground. People around us started screaming and running towards me.

There was barely a drop of blood spilt, just a tiny stream from my skull, and a small amount that came from my nose. My eyes were frozen open in shock, but I could see only a small amount of life left in them.

I began shivering violently from the human-me having her gaze set right on the angel girl beside her. It pained me, and yet I was morbidly awestruck, as I realised the Agency didn't lie. Nobody dies alone - as an angel, I was there to witness my own passing.

Blinking away tears from my eyes, I saw a beautiful stream of white light come from the sky. Angel paramedics were coming to rescue me, to take me home.

I gave a watery smile and wave to the paramedics, one of them giving me an extremely bewildered look, as he looked back and forth between angel-me and human-me.

Within the blink of an eye, the paramedics (obviously with my spirit in their arms) had disappeared. As I looked down at myself once again, that speck of life that had lingered in me was drained. I was gone.

Thanks to the beauty of cosmic timing, I had finally gotten all the answers to my questions. This gave me a sense of peace - I silently thanked the Universe. Kneeling down and wiping the tears from my eyes, I kissed my fingers and then pressed them against my pale, lifeless forehead.

"You're home now," I whispered, choked up with emotion. As I stood up, I caught the eye of an earth angel who was standing in the distance, watching this scene with interest.

He was shrouded by an oversized trench coat and a large hat, but I could see underneath the shadows, he was smiling at me. I returned the gesture and waved - it was awesome to know that no matter what, angels were all around.

However, in the real world, there was just absolute chaos. Panicking out of his mind, trying hard not to cry, the one who killed me did the only thing a teenager could. Run.

He cranked the car into reverse, backed away a few metres, before gunning it and burning rubber to drive away.

Witnesses of the crash were now rushing around me, crying and yelling out to call 999. A woman in her forties was checking my vitals, but I already knew the answer.

There was a small frown on her face as she tried in various places to find a pulse. Nothing.

"She's gone," she muttered quietly to another man, who was trying to find some blankets to keep me warm. "Not breathing, no pulse."

"Such a young girl too." He swallowed hard, taking his glasses off to wipe his eyes.

The woman then used her fingers and pulled down my eyelids, in a sweet gesture of respect for the deceased.

The sirens of the ambulance wailed as they came into view, and I watched on in pure amazement as the moments of my post-mortem existence unfolded in front of me.

In an instant, I understood why the Agency had allowed me to see this. Closure. A sense of knowing how I died. The answers to everything I had ever wondered. This was only the catalyst for why I was sent on this mission.

And yet, there was one of the freakiest moments that I will never forget for eternity.

"_MELANIE_!" a loud, long shriek echoed practically throughout the whole area. All heads turned to where this scream had come from, including mine.

As the ambulance attendants got out their stretcher for corpses, a young girl pushed her way through the crowds, tripping and just superficially skinning her hands and legs.

"_What_?" I yelled, nearly fainting at the sight of the female who came into view. Could this get any more weird?

Ashen with tears gushing from her red eyes, was a young thirteen year old girl that I knew very well. My best friend, Sky Nolen, had been in the area at the time I died.

"That's it," I whispered, watching her being held back by other ambulance officers, and Sky deciding to kick and scream just to get out of their strong grip. "That's why she was so crazy over my death! She was _here_!"

"No! I must be with her! She's my best friend!" A last ditch effort to come with me to the hospital, she thrashed around, crying. But the attendees would not let go.

"You cannot go with her, dear, we must take her to a special place," one of the females tried to reason with her calmly. Eventually, sobbing and breathing hard, Sky relented and stopped trying to fight the paramedics.

The body bag zip closed over my face. As they loaded me onto the stretcher and into the van, a very shaken Sky got on her phone and tried to contact Mum.

"What is your name?" a kind looking woman asked her.

Sky could barely reply as she inwardly swore at the phone for my mother to answer. "Sky."

"You best go home. I understand this is traumatic for you deary, but you need to be with your parents."

"Hello, Mel's Mum?" Sky said into the phone, ignoring the woman. She let out a sob, nearly collapsing into tears. "Something happened."

Dazed, and just as freaked out as she was, I felt I wasn't needed here. As much as I wanted to stay with my best friend, angel intuition said I needed to hot-foot it home as quickly as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time I had made it from the scene of the accident to our house, my angel molecules were burning so much it felt like I was falling from Heaven to the fiery dimensions of Hell. But seeing as it wasn't really that far, I managed to make it just in time. Silly me had forgot all I could do was use my angel tags to beam myself home, but with all the excitement, I had reverted back into a human mindset.

Because I was an angel trainee, I hadn't actually gotten my full powers yet. However, the first thing I had mastered at the Academy was walking through walls, which I just managed to do successfully.

There's those moments where you revisit places, or certain times, that you had in your past. It seemed in a moment of cosmic time, I had managed to tap into every memory I had in my house, nearly bowling me over.

It turned out Sky hadn't actually broken the news to Mum, she had just said something very bad had happened, which got Mum fretting it was to do with drugs or boys.

My Mum was in the lounge room, pacing back and forth with a worried look on her face. "Why isn't Mel here yet," she murmured to herself, looking at her watch. "The longer she stays away, the more I'm starting to fret."

"Oh Mum," I gasped, tears welling up in my eyes as I ran to her like a little kid. I broke down crying as I tried to hug her, my dematerialised angelic body not being able to touch her.

Des walked in from the kitchen. He had this dinky little apron he liked to wear when he was chef for the day. His bald head was looking particularly shiny that day, and I could see a little bit of flour smudged on his nose. This image made me at least giggle through my tears. "Honey, it's just the girls. They probably ran into a little trouble with the coppers, you know how they do that."

"But why didn't Mel call?" By this stage, she had stopped pacing and was watching the cuckoo clock in an agitated fashion. She was biting her lip nervously and continued to fidget.

"I don't know." Des shrugged, obviously trying to cheer her up as he came over to hug her. "We'll find out."

"Mummy?" Jade asked as she came into the room. "I made a drawing, look!"

My sweet little sister held up her messing art of how she envisioned a pony, although the green colouring wasn't quite realistic.  
>Shaking my head, I smiled and tried to pat her head. "You always were an abstract artist, Fluffyhead," I affectionately commented, a little tug inside my heart at the sight of her.<p>

Mum was close to ignoring her, but Jade was persistent. She tugged on her skirt to get her attention.

"Oh that's lovely, sweetie," Mum commented vaguely, plastering a happy smile on her face.

The doorbell rang, and my angelic radar flared up. _This is it_ I thought miserably, following my Mum as she hurried to the door, expecting it to be me. _The one visit she never wanted to get._

There were two police officers, one a woman and the other a man. They seemed to totally fit the good cop / bad cop TV routine, the stern guy and comforting female. _How stereotypical_ I thought, a little sarcastically. I felt ashamed the moment what I said had entered my brain; this was no time to be making snide comments.

"Oh my god," Mum gasped as she raised her hand to her lips. Her eyes were full of shock and fear, and her skin was already going a few shades paler. "What happened?"

"Jade, go to your room. Now." There was something very un-Des-like in his voice, that firm and commanding tone that if he used it, you KNOW he meant business.

Jade was as obedient as a five year old could be. She nodded softly, and walked towards the stairs, not taking her eyes off the police. But she didn't go all the way to her bedroom. She stopped halfway, watching the scene below her unfold, the drawing clutched tightly in her hands.

I abandoned my Mum to go be close to Jade. _What a silly girl_, I thought in a pained way. _She's gonna hear everything._

The policewoman took her hat off, dropping her eyes momentarily in a sombre way. "May we please come in? I think we best sit down."

"No. Whatever it is, I want to hear it now." By now my Mum was already crying. She knew what was coming; whenever someone tells you to sit down, it isn't good news, right?

"We are very sorry to inform you," the male cop began and cleared his throat, "but your daughter, Melanie, was collected by a vehicle and passed away."

A million things seem to happen at once. My Mum paused, as if she didn't quite understand what she heard. When the news finally caught up to her, she started wailing and shrieking, screaming out about her 'baby'. Des walked quickly over to her and caught her in his arms as she sank towards the ground, the police officers looking upset in their own way. I assumed delivering news of death every day means you got some type of immunity.

"Why, why my girl?" Mum cried, her hands covering her face. She could no longer support herself, Des was the only one keeping her from curling up on the ground.

The police officers began looking extremely uncomfortable, so they quickly tried to usher her towards a chair, which she had to be dragged into, thanks to the sudden loss of energy.

Right next to me, I was now having to console my little sister, who had just heard every word that was spoken. Jade's little drawing dropped from her hands, falling slowly like a leaf, through the banisters and onto the floor. In all the commotion, my Mum and Des didn't hear her thunder quickly up the steps and practically herself into our bedroom.

"Jade!" I yelled on impulse, as if she could really hear me. I raced after her as quickly as I could.

She had closed the door on me, but seeing as I was an angel, that didn't really matter. I shimmered through the walls and into our bedroom.

It was exactly as I remembered it from the last night I spent here, although that's pretty much a given. Comparing it to about eighteen months later when I had my first mission home, I realised how much they had actually changed since their daughters death.

Jade had thrown herself on the lower bunk, her bed. She was practically crying her eyes out into her fairy applique pillow.

My heart broke at seeing my family so destroyed by the news. Little did they know their dead Beeby child was standing in the same room as an angel.

"Hey Fluffyhead," I murmured, my voice coming out incredibly choked by emotion. I sat beside her on her bed, kicking my legs up underneath me so I was a lot more comfortable on the single mattress. I moved my hair out of my face so I could see her properly. "I'm sorry you had to hear that, sweetie. Lord knows how you must be feeling right now, knowing your sister is dead and all. Although don't fret, I've actually been here in the future! I know what that sounds like, how can life be so bad now when it improves about a year later? I don't know, ask the Agency."

I paused to giggle at how blonde I was starting to sound. I got a tissue out from my bag and blew my nose. "I know what life must feel like now. Your big sister is gone, right? No, she isn't." I leaned down closer to her. If I had been materialised, she would've been able to feel my breath upon her cheek. "I'm here, Jade. I didn't disappear, and I know you know I'm here because, well, I know what happens in the future. I'm an angel and I'm here to protect you from all the nasties."

On impulse, I decided to stroke her hair very tenderly. For the first time, my hand could actually _touch_ her. I didn't go straight through her thanks to my dematerialisation. It was as if I was really sitting there, human once again. To top the mystical experience off, underneath my hand, Jade shivered exactly where I touched her.

I was so amazed and intrigued by this that I didn't even notice the sound of feet coming up the steps, until they were nearly upon us. The police officers had left by now, which freed them to talk to their now only child.

"Sweetie?" a tearful sounding Mum knocked on the door.

I blinked at the sound of her voice, and got up from the bed as she opened the door. My Mum's face was pale and stained with tears, her puffy eyes shielded slightly by her fringe, now wet on the ends from her crying.

Des had followed up behind her. Usually he was always so joyful, smiling and joking about, reminding me of this big, hairy bear you always love to cuddle as a kid. None my friends ever knew, but his cuddles were the best hugs from a male I had ever gotten. And yet here, in his stepdaughters bedroom, he was just as much of an emotional wreck.

The two tried to pull themselves together, for Jade's sake. I admired that quality in them, even though they were very much failing.

Jade didn't even look up from the pillow at the sound of her mothers voice. She just laid there, sobbing, even though it sounded like she was laughing.

"Oh honey," Mum said as she rushed to the bed, stroking Jade's hair exactly the way I had done. This caused Jade to cry harder. "I'm sorry you had to hear the news. I'm so, so sorry."

"But why?" Jade asked as she managed to pry herself away from the comfort of the pillow. She was all snotty and wet, but nobody in the room really took notice. "She was the bestest sister I ever had. I told her that yesterday."

"I don't know, sweetie. Things just happen, that's one of the problems we face. Remember when Grandpa passed away, and we said goodbye to him that day before he died? He knew he was going to leave, so we had time. Others just don't have that chance." Even through the pain of grief, my Mum still managed to sound calm and wise, she was a huge help for my sisters grief.

Jade's face crumpled up once again. It was absolutely heart-wrenching to see such a child go through this amount of misery. "I miss her. I didn't say goodbye like we did with Gramps!"

"None of us did." Des's voice made all of us look towards him. In a few minutes he had seemingly grown older. His eyes were tired and aching, and his stance showed he had a lot of emotional weight to carry. "Jane, I'm just going to go downstairs to call a few people."

"Okay," Mum agreed, turning her attention back to Jade. "Sweetie, we're going to have to go to the hospital, okay? There are a few things us grown ups have to do. We're going to call Mrs. Sanders to see if she can look after you while we're gone."

"Don't leave me!" The expression and volume Jade manage to pump into one sentence was surprising. She was absolutely fearful, her face showed it. She didn't want her parents to go off and leave her forever too.

She wrapped her arms around Mum's neck, and she complied, hugging her close. "Jade, this is not a simple visit like recently when Gran fell over. We have to sort out some things with the police."

"NO!" Jade screamed, crying even harder. "NO, NO, NO!"

"All right!" Mum was too stressed to consider arguing her point, it was best just to cave in. "Will you be okay just sitting out in the waiting room with Mrs. Sanders, while we go to the other side of the hospital? Same building, so we won't be apart for long."

"Okay," Jade agreed in a small voice, brushing her eyes with her hands.

Now don't just think I was sitting back and watching all of this as if it was my private theatre. I was pumping angel vibes like mad, helping to try and mend the broken pieces of my family.

But nothing could put the shards of glass back together. It had smashed, into a million pieces, each sliver a single, silver tear drop.

* * *

><p>We managed to get to the hospital in record timing, considering recent events had made Jade a complete butterfingers. This stressed Mum out and caused her to snap, and jade to cry even more, but by the time we loaded ourselves into our humble Volvo station wagon, they had made up.<p>

_The good thing is, I don't need a seatbelt,_ I thought in my head, a feeble attempt at humour on the journey. The stone cold silence was enough to make ME feel bad for dying!

It was completely awkward. I felt like piping up, "Can we please put on the radio? This silence is driving me nuts, plus there's this awesome new song out and they MIGHT play it!", but of course nobody would be able to hear me.

While Mum and Des were directed by the hospital receptionist towards the morgue wing, I stayed with Jade and Mrs. Sanders (Mum's friend through Jade's preschool) in the waiting room.

I had no idea what was unfolding at the time, but later, I tapped into Mum's brain (I know, that is _so_ wrong of me to do, but I was super curious!) to find out what happened.

It kind of went a little something like this - they stood outside the glass viewing window, with a police officer warning them that the vision of what they could see would be quite traumatic, so they should just be prepared. The morticians inside the room pulled the blue sheet away from my face, revealing my stone cold and now-grey face.

Mum shrieked and cried, throwing her face onto Des's shoulder, and nearly falling to the floor once again, if he hadn't supported her. She then turned around to the police officer, said that yes that was her daughter, and sobbed uncontrollably as the mortician replaced the blue sheet over me, shielding me away from the outside world.

Mrs. Sanders was a great babysitter and storyteller to Jade. While her husband stayed home with their children (very much voluntarily when he was informed of my death), she suddenly launched into Surrogate Mother Mode, and helped console Jade in her grief, without necessarily touching on the subject.

Tired, exhausted, and looking excessively ragged, my mother and step-dad came into view.

I caught my breath as I took in their expressions. I had come to a stage where I had accepted my death, even grown to like the fact I carked it thanks to my new life as an angel trainee. Although seriously, if you've been dead for four years, you can't continue being a sullen little pain in the butt, now can you?

Mum gave a quick and silent nod to Mrs. Sanders, who threw her hand up to her mouth and tears welled up in her eyes.

"I am so sorry, Jane. I-I honestly don't know what to say," she said in a low tone as the two adults stood up to face each other.

Mum sighed tiredly, forcing a smile onto her face. "There is nothing that really can be said, I'm afraid. But thank you. We best be getting home now. Jade needs sleep, so do we in fact, but funeral arrangements are in order."

"Yes, yes, understandable." Mrs. Sanders nodded in agreement, and the three adults turned to Jade announcing it was time to go home. But Jade knew. She could read it on their faces.

I was definitely dead.

* * *

><p>In the car journey, I kept up the casual chatter I had been during the waiting room visit. Of course Jade couldn't hear me - with my last mission here, only eighteen months into the future, she and my closest friends sensed me best when they were asleep. It 's just some weird angel occurrence that could tap into their mind better.<p>

Everybody practically collapsed as they dragged themselves through the door. It was only 7:30 in the evening, but I could tell all of them just wanted to get to sleep.

Mum took off her coat and threw the keys on the table, rubbing her temples and her forehead. Des checked the answering machine. Nearly an hour or so and already thirty messages from friends of mine and theirs, relatives, and workmates. _Word spreads around fast_, I thought, impressed. I knew Sky would've gone straight home and told her Mum and our best mates, who would've told their parents and friends, who would've told...

"Mummy? Can you tuck me in?" a small voice interrupted my thoughts. Jade was standing there, looking entirely exhausted, and yet still scared and sad. "I don't want to go to sleep without you."

That was enough to bring my Mum to tears again. But composing herself like she hadn't today, she kept it all back, and smiled at my sister.

"Sure, sweetie." Silently, they walked upstairs, me trailing behind them.

What followed was the sweetest scene in the time of grief, a memory I will forever remember. Little Jade, curled up in a ball next to Mum, listening to her favourite story about fairies. She slowly fell asleep, and when Mum tucked her in properly, she kissed her on the forehead, a tiny clear tear falling from her eye.

"Goodnight, my love."

* * *

><p>Needless to say, this mission had reduced me to nothing more than an emotional wreck. While the tears were flowing with my family, so were my own! But nothing could prepare me for the events that were to follow.<p>

Early the next morning, Mum and Des sat themselves at the kitchen table. Jade was still sound asleep (her bedroom protected by a myriad of angelic symbols and vibes), and the adults were up at a time I can only call disgusting.

"Seriously, who wakes up at this time?" I groaned, rubbing my eyes as I got up from the couch. Even as an angel, I was drained enough to need nothing except sleep. I laid my head in my hands and tried to stop this hangover-like feeling of tiredness and overwhelming exertion.

"I think the first thing we should do is decide what to... Do with her," Des began talking in a low voice.

Intrigued, I suddenly became more perky and opened my eyes and ears.

"You could at least make it sound a little more tactful," my Mum began with a peeved off sniff. "Cremation is cheaper and easier, but this is a teenage girl we are talking about. I think she deserves a proper burial, not shoved into a little box."

"Alright, I do see your point and I agree with you."

"Thank you."

This overly formal way of talking was making me cringe. Obviously the cracks between the marriage were showing, with all this grief on their plate. I tried boosting up the vibes so it was less crackling with intensity.

"Funeral plans will have to be arranged, like flowers, the hall which I believe should be a church, and the..." Mum faded off, a grimacing look on her face. "Casket."

"What were her favourite flowers?" Des asked, writing down on a notepad.

"Red roses and lilies," Mum said in a very soft voice. Her eyes began brimming with tears once again, and her voice broke with emotion. "She said she wanted a bouquet of these flowers on - her - wedding - day."

By this stage, as you probably guessed, she was once again sobbing. I was feeling even worse, so I sank back down onto the couch. "Why did they use me?" I asked aloud to the air. "I'm not the right person for this mission. It's way too personal, I can't handle this!"

Despite my complaining to the Universe, and Mum's crying, we all managed to stop what we were doing when an ear-splitting scream cut through the air.

It was Jade.


End file.
